away from the pier which is very touristy.
I passed Muscle Beach apparently famous with rings, bars etc like an open air gym plus yoga, well it is California!
Next to the pier is an area with crosses for all the dead USA soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, (close to the obligatory car park) clearly meant to upset the american locals and tourists but having seen El Alamein, Ypres and even Greek sites in Crete, they don't know how lucky they are, considering the size of their population, oh dear sound like grumpy old woman ...... Found a great hotel with outside seating in the sunshine called The Georgian to enjoy a light lunch and glass of wine at a reasonable price, so rare to find a good spot but I knew I was in the right place when the Maserati turned up and the guys in it were prepared to wait for a table. It is the end of route 66 according to the signs and a mix of posh places (lunch) and people sleeping rough in the park.
Walking back from my bus stop passing lots of bars decked out for Superbowl, it was being played in near zero temperatures further north while LA had upper 70's F, I know where I'd prefer to be! I should now just say that LAX is probably the worst airport so far that I have ever visited! It makes UK ones look so fantastic it's not true, nothing past security, the only 3 large flights leaving were all next to each other so people sitting on floor etc with nowhere else to go. Long flight 10hours + on Air Pacific friendly and amateur, roll on Air new Zealand for the next leg! Still arrived safely about 5.30am their time and have shell necklace as souvenir.
My hotel in Fiji is in tourist central but as only 4 days convenient for arrangements, everyone very friendly and I was booked in before 10am inspite of official time of 3pm and hotel reasonably full. Passing the dateline means that I have gone from being 8 hours behind the Uk to being 11 hours ahead all in the space of a 10 hour flight. it is the rainy season which means it rains every afternoon on the mainland, gardens are suitably lush and well tended with 3 pools including adults only, beach not used much as not very wide but I did go in the sea which was ok but not very clear.
However yesterday I did a trip out on a catamaran to one of the many outlying small islands where it was sunny all day and we could see all the clouds over the much larger island. Unfortunately the coral is mainly brown suffering as often from pollution and changes in weather patterns, but the water is crystal clear.
main island with cloud and catamaran from 'desert island'
Today was quiet and rainy again in the afternoon so have booked another trip to different islands for tomorrow. It has been good to have not alot to do before I face the permanent travelling of the NZ tour. Fiji is certainly a lovely place and the islands are a very romantic destination, if it wasn't so far away I'd be tempted to come again, romance or not!! The Fijian people seem genuinely welcoming and apart from avoiding kava which apparently tastes like mud but is an 'honour' everything else including the sunsets are very good, even the posh restaurant is worth the money here, (LA eat your heart out!).
Not sure when next posting will come but I am keeping a written diary to make sure I know where I've been and what I've done so will fill you in as soon as I can.
Enjoying your blog, especially the sunsets!
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